Royal Canadian Mounted Police
, an R.C.M.P. officer blocks Nick's entrance to the hangar where victims of the plane crash were taken.]] The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is the national police force of Canada. The force is often referred to colloquially either by the initials of its name or by the abbreviation, "Mounties". In French, it is called the Gendarmerie royale du Canada. In the Season Three premiere, "Black Buddha, Part One", there is a fatal airplane crash at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. The investigation is taken over by the R.C.M.P., shutting out the Metropolitan Police. Nevertheless, Det. Nick Knight determines to involve himself, since his partner, Don Schanke, and commanding officer, Capt. Amanda Cohen, had been on board the plane that crashed. When Nick goes to the airport, he tries to get into the hangar where the bodies and effects are being gathered under a team led by Dr. Lambert, working for the County Coroner's Office. However, he discovers that the hallway outside is guarded by an R.C.M.P. officer who will not allow him to enter. Curiously, his temporary partner, Tracy Vetter has just been let in; but the Mountie explains that she is with the Police Commission: as the daughter of one of the Commissioners, she had showed her father's ID to gain entrance. Nick promptly hypnotizes the police officer in order to get in himself. After they have discussed the case with Dr. Lambert for a while, the Mountie comes in to inform her that everyone else has gone and he is locking up. As they themselves depart, however, Tracy spots movement in the shadows. Making up an excuse, she goes back inside. "Well, that Mountie is kinda cute," observes Natalie wryly to Nick—but, in fact, Tracy has not gone to flirt. She investigates the movement she has seen, and discovers the vampire Javier Vachon, who had also been on the plane. The R.C.M.P. officer presumably had finished his routine, since he is not inside the hangar any longer at that point. History of the R.C.M.P. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police began with the North-West Mounted Police, who were established in 1873 to bring law and order to the Northwest Territories. The need was particularly urgent given reports of American whiskey traders causing trouble in the region. The N.W.M.P. was modelled directly on the Royal Irish Constabulary, a civilian paramilitary armed police force with both mounted and foot elements under the authority of what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. As such, the N.W.M.P. was organized along the lines of a cavalry regiment in the British Army, and wore red-jacketed uniforms. The early activities of the N.W.M.P. not only included the containment of the whiskey trade but also the enforcement of agreements with the First Nations peoples. To that end, the commanding officer of the force arranged to be sworn in as a justice of the peace, which allowed for magisterial authority within the Mounties' jurisdiction. In the early years, the force's dedication to enforcing the law on behalf of the First Nations peoples impressed the latter enough to encourage good relations between them and the Crown. In 1885, the N.W.M.P. helped to quell the North-West Rebellion led by Louis Riel. During the Klondike Gold Rush, the N.W.M.P. not only enforced criminal law, but also collected customs duties. They established a number of rules, such the "Blue Ticket" used to expel undesirables from the Klondike, mandatory boat inspections for those wanting to travel the Yukon River, and a requirement that prospectors entering the Yukon bring with them a ton of goods in order to avoid famine. At that very time, the dissolution of the N.W.M.P. was being discussed by the Canadian government; but the gold rush prospectors were so impressed by the conduct of the Mounted Police that the force became world famous and its continuation was ensured. In June 1919, the force was called in to repress a general strike in Winnipeg, the capitol of Manitoba. Officers fired into a crowd of strikers, killing two and causing injury to thirty others. Clashes with strikers continued as late as 1931, when three coal miners were killed in a demonstration in Saskatchewan. These incidents did not help the image of the Mounties, which many considered an outdated institution, more suited to the nineteenth century frontier than a modern industrial state. In 1920, the Royal North-West Mounted Police was merged with the Dominion Police. The new force was named the "Royal Canadian Mounted Police". Charged with federal law enforcement in all the provinces and territories, it immediately set about establishing its modern role as protector of Canadian national security, as well as assuming responsibility for national counterintelligence. Besides the R.C.M.P.'s new responsibilities in intelligence, drugs enforcement, and immigration, the force also provided assistance to other federal agencies. In the late 1970s, revelations surfaced that, in the course of their intelligence duties, the R.C.M.P. Security Service force had engaged in various abuses of their powers, including such crimes as burning down a barn and stealing documents from the separatist Parti Québécois. This led to a Royal Commission of Inquiry (known as the "McDonald Commission" after the presiding judge, Mr Justice David Cargill McDonald) which recommended that intelligence duties be taken from the R.C.M.P. A separate intelligence agency was created, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). Besides providing federal policing service to all of Canada, the force also provides policing services under contract to the three territories, eight of the provinces (except Ontario and Quebec), and hundreds of municipalities and aboriginal communities, as well as three international airports. As such, the R.C.M.P. is unique in the world in being a policing body at the national, federal, provincial, and municipal levels. Uniform of the R.C.M.P. The Red Serge tunic that is so strongly identified with the R.C.M.P. is of the standard British military pattern. The full dress uniform includes: this high collared scarlet tunic, with blue shoulder epaulettes; midnight blue breeches with a yellow leg strip; a Sam Browne belt with a shoulder cross strap and white sidearm lanyard; brown riding boots (possibly with spurs); a wide, flat-brimmed, brown Stetson hat; and brown gloves (with brown leather gauntlets for riders). On normal duties, the RCMP wears their everyday uniform, which consists of a grey shirt with dark blue tie, dark blue trousers with gold strapping, and a regular police-style cap. ::Adapted from the Wikipedia article on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Category:Canada